Reddit puts down roots in Chicago as it powers up its pitch to brands again

Reddit is to expand its partnerships team with the launch of a new sales hub in Chicago in the hopes of attracting more ad dollars from brands.

The so-called ‘front page of the web’ announced that it is looking to swell its team beyond San Francisco as it courts advertising budgets across the US.

Announcing these efforts, Reddit said it is becoming “an increasingly valuable part of any brand’s advertising and social engagement strategy”. It added that this new team will be looking at ways to make brand engagements more powerful across the board.

Products currently on offer include self-serve ads, videos ads, and native promos on the mobile app. It claims to have grown its ad revenue in the last three years by a factor of five.

Rob Sprungman, formerly of EA, will lead the company’s sales efforts in the Midwest as the senior director of Central Brand Partnerships. In his previous roles he built a relationship with clients like McDonald’s, Ford, and Target as he led AdMob, until Google’s acquisition of the company, before a stint at Thinknear by Telenav.

Reddit boasts 330 million active monthly users across more than 138 thousand communities. It will look to seize digital spend from other social networks and websites, although due to its nature as an open forum of debate it has previously faced issues with brand safety.